A system for adjusting radiation target sites dynamically according to the moving states of a target object and for creating a lookup table of the moving states includes a detection chip, a radiation generation device, and a lookup table. The detection chip can be fixed on the target object to detect the current moving state of the target object. The detection chip or the radiation generation device, both configured for wireless signal transmission to each other, can activate or deactivate the radiation emitters of the radiation generation device individually according to the current moving state of the target object and the contents of the lookup table. As the system uses wireless transmission, and the lookup table has recorded the working state of each radiation emitter in each moving state of the target object, radiotherapy can be performed without a large number of tubes or sensors.
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1. A system for adjusting radiation target sites according to moving states of a target object, comprising:
a detection chip configured to be fixed on the target object and to detect and acquire a current moving state of the target object;
a radiation generation device having a plurality of radiation emitters arranged to correspond to different positions on the target object respectively and configured to emit radiation when activated, and configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from the detection chip wirelessly; and
a lookup table stored in the detection chip or the radiation generation device,
wherein at least one of the detection chip and the radiation generation device is configured to respectively activate or deactivate each of the radiation emitters dynamically according to the current moving state of the target object and contents of the lookup table so that each of the respective radiation emitters emits or does not emit radiation.
2. The system according to
a direction sensing module configured to:
detect and acquire the current moving state of the target object; and
generate a sensing message corresponding to the current moving state.
3. The system according to
4. The system according to
5. The system according to
identify one of the entries of the movement information that corresponds to the sensing message;
record at least one number of at least one of the radiation emitters that corresponds to the corresponding entry of the movement information; and
respectively activate or deactivate each of the radiation emitters according to the recorded number so that each of the respective radiation emitters emits or does not emit radiation.
6. The system according to
a direction sensing module configured to:
detect and acquire the current moving state of the target object; and
generate a sensing message corresponding to the current moving state;
a wireless module configured to receive and send out the sensing message; and
wherein the lookup table is stored in the radiation generation device.
7. The system according to
8. The system according to
9. The system according to
identify one of the entries of the movement information that corresponds to the sensing message;
record at least one number of at least one of the radiation emitters that corresponds to the corresponding entry of the movement information; and
respectively activate or deactivate each of the radiation emitters according to the recorded number so that each of the respective radiation emitters emits or does not emit radiation.
10. The system according to
11. The system according to
12. The system according to
identify one of the entries of the movement information that corresponds to the sensing message;
record at least one number of at least one of the radiation emitters that corresponds to the corresponding entry of the movement information; and
respectively activate or deactivate each of the radiation emitters according to the recorded number so that each of the respective radiation emitters emits or does not emit radiation.
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This non-provisional application claims priority to and the benefit of, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), Taiwan Patent Application No. 109107078, filed in Taiwan on Mar. 4, 2020. The entire content of the above identified application is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a system for use in radiation therapy, and more particularly, relates to a system in which a detection chip can detect the current moving state of a target object and is wirelessly connected to a radiation generation device in order to activate or deactivate a plurality of radiation emitters individually.
The incidence rate of cancer in humans has increased significantly along with human life expectancy, which has become a major medical issue faced by humankind in the twenty-first century. According to the 2019 statistics issued by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan, for example, cancer has topped the ten leading causes of death in Taiwan for seven years in a row, which is alarming. In light of such, the treatment for cancer has advanced rapidly in the last few decades, resulting in treatment methods such as surgical resection or excision, radiation therapy (or radiotherapy for short), chemical therapy (or chemotherapy for short), and targeted therapy.
Generally speaking, surgical resection or excision has always been the most direct method of cancer treatment. However, cutting out cancer-affected body parts completely (e.g., in the case of a patient with breast cancer on only one side of the body, removing the breast and lymph nodes on the affected side in their entirety) tends to cause severe physical suffering and a great sense of loss. The current trend of cancer treatment, therefore, typically entails removing only the tumor itself and the affected lymph nodes, plus radiotherapy or other therapies in order to achieve the same therapeutic effect as complete removal of the cancer-affected body part. Radiotherapy cures a cancer by means of focused high-energy radiation (e.g., X-rays, electron beams, protons, or heavy particles) that destroys the genetic material, or more specifically DNA, of cancer/tumor cells to inhibit regeneration of and kill those cells and thereby reduce the tumor.
Nowadays, a lot of radiotherapies are available for use, including stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and volumetric-modulated are radiotherapy (VMAT), among others. A physician would choose an appropriate treatment method based on the type of the cancer to be treated, the size and severity of the tumor, and the patient's physical conditions. SABR, for example, is an ablative radiation therapy whose precision depends on a high-standard positioning technique. SABR requires high-end radiation technology and equipment, and uses a computer to compute an optimal radiotherapy plan. As SABR allows high-dose radiation per treatment, the required number of treatments is relatively small. Moreover, a cancer patient receiving SABR is free from the risks, wound pain, and potential infections associated with surgical operations and is therefore allowed to maintain his or her life quality.
Radiation can destroy not only cancer cells but also the normal tissues surrounding the cancer cells. It is hence imperative to aim a radiotherapy instrument precisely at the tumor to be treated and thereby protect the normal tissues and organs around the tumor. Practically, however, a tumor in the chest or abdomen tends to move away from the radiation target site as the patient breathes. To avoid problems attributable to such movement, the patient may have to receive respiratory gating, active breathing coordination (ABC), deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) radiotherapy, surface image guided radiation therapy (SIGRT), or other procedures in order to reduce radiation coverage of the normal tissues around the tumor and thereby alleviate the side effects of radiotherapy.
The foregoing procedures require dozens of tubes and sensors to be provided around a patient so that the patient's breathing state can be accurately detected to enable timely activation of the radiotherapy instrument during treatment (e.g., to activate the radiotherapy instrument only when the patient temporarily stops breathing). The large number of tubes and sensors are nevertheless bound to interfere with certain propagation paths of radiation and thus cause problems in use. The issue to be addressed by the present disclosure is to reduce the tubes and sensors required and thereby solve the aforesaid problems effectively.
In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a system for adjusting radiation target sites according to moving states of a target object. The system includes a detection chip, a radiation generation device and a lookup table. The detection chip is configured to be fixed on the target object, and to detect and acquire a current moving state of the target object. The radiation generation device has a plurality of radiation emitters arranged to correspond to different positions on the target object respectively. The radiation emitters are configured to emit radiation when activated. The radiation generation device is configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from the detection chip wirelessly. The lookup table is stored in the detection chip or the radiation generation device. At least one of the detection chip and the radiation generation device is configured to respectively activate or deactivate each of the radiation emitters dynamically according to the current moving state of the target object and contents of the lookup table, so that the radiation emitter emits or does not emit radiation. Accordingly, a patient receiving radiotherapy only has to have the detection chip attached to his or her body, and the radiation generation device will be able to carry out the radiotherapy precisely on the target body portion without having to use a large number of tubes or sensors around the patient's body, greatly enhancing convenience of use.
Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a system for creating a lookup table of moving states of a target object. The system includes a dummy, a quantitative detector, a radiation generation device, a detection chip, and an information processing device. The dummy is provided with an elevating platform configured to back-and-forth displace at least a portion of the dummy so as to simulate human body movements. The quantitative detector is located in the dummy. The radiation generation device has a plurality of radiation emitters arranged to correspond to different positions on the dummy respectively. The radiation emitters are configured to emit radiation to be received by the quantitative detector. The detection chip is configured to be mounted on the dummy. The detection chip includes a direction sensing module and a control module. The direction sensing module is configured to detect and acquire at least one moving state of the dummy, and generate a sensing message corresponding to the moving state. The control module is electrically connected to the direction sensing module and configured to receive the sensing message, determine movement information corresponding to the sensing message, and generate a movement message corresponding to the movement information. The information processing device is electrically connected to the quantitative detector and the detection chip respectively. The information processing device is configured to receive the movement message from the detection chip, receive radiation data and information of positions on the dummy that correspond to the radiation data from the quantitative detector, and record at least one of the movement message, the radiation data, and the information of positions on the dummy that correspond to the radiation data in the lookup table stored in the information processing device, so that the lookup table includes the activation/deactivation state of each radiation emitter in each recorded moving state of the dummy.
These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings and their captions, although variations and modifications therein may be affected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.
The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
The present disclosure is more particularly described in the following examples that are intended as illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Like numbers in the drawings indicate like components throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural reference, and the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on”. Titles or subtitles can be used herein for the convenience of a reader, which shall have no influence on the scope of the present disclosure.
The terms used herein generally have their ordinary meanings in the art. In the case of conflict, the present document, including any definitions given herein, will prevail. The same thing can be expressed in more than one way. Alternative language and synonyms can be used for any term(s) discussed herein, and no special significance is to be placed upon whether a term is elaborated or discussed herein. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms is illustrative only, and in no way limits the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given herein. Numbering terms such as “first”, “second” or “third” can be used to describe various components, parts or the like, which are for distinguishing one component/part from another one only, and are not intended to, nor should be construed to impose any substantive limitations on the components, parts or the like.
The present disclosure provides a system for adjusting radiation target sites dynamically according to the moving states of a target object and for creating a lookup table of the moving states. Referring to
With continued reference to
As shown in
With continued reference to
In certain embodiments, with continued reference to
It is noted that the transmission between the first wireless module 114 and the second wireless module 131 may be in a direct mode or indirect mode. In other words, the first wireless module 114 may send the control message directly to the second wireless module 131; or, to a terminal device (e.g., a smartphone or tablet computer) that relays the control message to the second wireless module 131 (i.e., indirect transmission of the control message). In the latter case, the terminal device may add the desired operation command(s), parameter(s), or information into the control message in order for the radiation generation device 13 to execute the procedure(s) corresponding to the control message added with desired operation command(s), parameter(s), or information. In certain embodiments, the first wireless module 114 may send the control message to the second wireless module 131 as well as the terminal device at the same time, and the terminal device can generate an additional control message corresponding to the control message received, and send the additional control message to the second wireless module 131, so that the radiation generation device 13 can execute the procedure(s) corresponding to each of the control message and the additional control message.
Referring again to
As shown in
Apart from storing the lookup table in the detection chip 11, in certain embodiments, the lookup table is stored in the radiation generation device 13. Referring to
The method for creating the contents of, or information in, the lookup table 110 is described below. Referring to
With continued reference to
As shown in
Referring to
Accordingly, when the system 1 and/or S is used in radiotherapy, the detection chip 11 can detect the current moving state of a patient's body and transmit a corresponding signal (i.e., the control message or the sensing message) to the radiation generation device 13 wirelessly. The patient, therefore, only has to have the detection chip 11 fixedly attached to the chest, and the detection chip 11 or the radiation generation device 13 will respectively activate or deactivate each of the radiation emitters 133 based on the current moving state (e.g., inhaling or exhaling) of the patient's body (e.g., the chest) and the contents of the lookup table 110, 110′ so that each of the radiation emitters 133 emits or does not emit radiation. The system 1 and/or S does not require a large number of tubes or sensors to be provided around a patient's body, contrary to the conventional techniques such as respiratory gating, ABC, DIBH, and SIGRT. Moreover, the system 1 provides a non-invasive control means that not only helps enhance the comfortableness of a patient under radiotherapy, but also does not interfere with the propagation paths of radiation, thus featuring greater convenience of use than its conventional counterparts.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.
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